Daily Archives: October 14, 2022

Three Mayo Men Convicted Over ‘Very Serious’ Illegal Fishing Incident in July 2020

Three Mayo men have been convicted of false imprisonment, assault and obstruction as they attempted to evade fisheries officers from Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) at Belderrig Pier on the North Mayo coast two years ago. At a sitting of Ballina District Court on 12 July this year, Judge Fiona Lydon also convicted the men of possessing illegally caught wild Atlantic salmon and nets, in charges brought by IFI. The charges of false imprisonment were brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The court heard evidence from Lonan O’Farrell, an inspector with IFI that on the evening of 15 July 2020, the men were approached by fisheries officers as they recovered their boat at Belderrig Pier. The fisheries officers suspected that the men had illegally caught wild Atlantic salmon and illegal gill nets on board but were obstructed and assaulted when they lawfully attempted to board the vessel. >click to read< 16:01

Panel Review Recommendations a Step in Right Direction for Inshore Fishery

Today, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador released the independent report reviewing sections 19.1 to 19.14 of the Fishing Industry Collective Bargaining Act.  The report from independent reviewer, David Conway, outlines a number of recommendations aimed at modernizing parts of the collective bargaining model for the benefit of the inshore fishery. FFAW-Unifor has been an outspoken advocate for improvements to the collective bargaining process for fish harvesters and is optimistic that the recommendations in the report are an important step in improving both labour relations and the price setting process.  >click to read the Press Release< 14:03

Lobster and snow crab markets fall by as much as 65 per cent

While lobster and snow crab have long been two of the Maritimes’ most popular exports, new data suggests the markets are now falling short. At the wharf in Glace Bay, N.S., fishermen were getting about $7 a pound for lobster by season’s end and about $6 for snow crab. “It wasn’t a good year, lobster-wise or crab-wise for us,” said fishermen’s representative Herb Nash. At Louisbourg Seafoods, where lobster and snow crab have long been their biggest sellers, a record year last year gave way to a difficult 2022. “We were very optimistic coming into 2022 that we would see a replica of 2021, and that couldn’t have been further from what happened,” said Allan MacLean, a senior operations manager at the seafood business. Video, >click to read< 11:38

Nova Scotia fisherman, fish buyer, violated law during unmonitored halibut offloads, judge rules

A Sambro, N.S., fisherman, a fish buyer and two related companies have been convicted for Fisheries Act violations that included two unmonitored offloads of halibut in the middle of the night. The charges centred on seven trips made by the fishing vessel Ivy Lew between May 2019 and June 2020. In a decision released Thursday, provincial court Judge Elizabeth Buckle found Capt. Casey Henneberry guilty of five counts of failing to observe licence conditions. >click to read< 08:55

New satellite imagery first to identify North Atlantic right whale from space

New satellite imagery research led by the University of Ottawa is the first to identify a specific endangered Gulf of St. Lawrence North Atlantic right whale from space. Matus Hodul: “The North Atlantic right whale is critically endangered, with about 336 individual whales accounted for. Mortality comes from whales being hit by ships and becoming entangled in fishing gear, so being able to detect and monitor their location is important to conservation efforts. Knowing where the whales are at any given time enables fisheries to open or close to avoid the whales and enables ships to bypass them to prevent collisions.” >click to read< 07:46 ‘Individual North Atlantic right whales identified from space’ >click<